The Swenglish Home

The Lost Gardens of Heligan I

Did you guess it? 

Yes, I found them, The Lost Gardens of Heligan, and I am very glad I did!

Having long admired a photo in a friend's house of this fair lady, I was more than a little excited to finally get to meet her in person. On purchasing the tickets at the entrance, I was eager to find out immediately where to find her and asked the lady selling the tickets where I could find... 'eh, that woman who's lying down... you know... covered in green stuff... eh'. Yes, that was a memorable display of my eloquence... 

However, this particular ticket selling lady happened to also be a particularly kind and service-minded ticket selling lady, who seemed to be able to ignore the stuttering Swede's complete linguistic train wreck, smiled and said "Oh, you mean the Mud Maid!" and pointed her out on the map. 

"Mud Maid"?!?!? Not quite the pretty, dream-like name I had envisioned, but undeterred, I ushered my family in the direction of her restful spot.

Please click on the image if you want to see the whole image, without the top of her head missing...

And there she was.

As soon as I met this sleeping green beauty, I realised that names matter very little when you are as striking a  señorita as this. When I have seen pictures of her in the past, her arm has also been covered in moss or ivy, so I guess that perhaps she had had a small injury that had recently been seen to, and that the moss has yet to grow back. Which I do hope it does, as it now looks like she has gone for a rest, forgetting to take her dishwashing gloves off...

Rubber glove images aside, this is one of those views that is somehow not done justice on a two-dimensional screen. In real life, there is something very special about this wonderful lady, something so peaceful, so tranquil. Something that speaks to my love of unexpected and fun creations in and of nature itself. And the fact that she is in the wilder woodland part of this large and multidimensional garden makes it ten times more interesting than had she been a more "formal" green statue in the formal parts of the garden.

Oh dear, here am I rambling on. We have a lot more grounds to cover, so here we go!

Flowers. FLOWERS. 

How starved we are of some colourful growing power after a long winter, 

and how soul-nurturing they are!

Terrific tulips ready to explode into full tulip mood any day? Check. Symmetrical lines of terracotta pots creating a feature in itself? Check. Oh, and an old brick wall to offset the whole display in the best possible way, making the squeaky green leaves squeak in perfect harmony against the brownish red bricks. Yep, check that too.

Aaah.

Yes, and then there was that "small" greenhouse in the same walled garden. The kind of greenhouse that makes me want to hold a photo of it up to our tiny, tiny, decrepit old greenhouse in our garden and whisper "grow, grow, please will you grow into this?"...

Magnificent mini greenhouse, flowering (!) rhododendron, more tulip squeakiness and lots and lots of dovecotes - love them all!

I am not sure, but I think these are balls of box, and I am quite certain that this is the story of mummy box, daddy box and the three little box babies, all lined up to salute the clock tower of Heligan House (private) in the morning...

SO wonderful to see so many flowers out! 

I felt like I was drinking them all up with my eyes, eager to try to store them in my imaginary box of visual candy, ready to be brought out and enjoyed whenever a grey day comes along....

In the distance, you can see the sea - not exactly a painful view to put up with as you are strolling around the grounds...

Peek-a-boo to you too, Mr Giant's Head!

Did I mention how much I love a fun and creative garden?

This rather 'nosey' gentleman may be no Richard Gere,

 but he still won my heart and made me smile!

I am afraid it does not end here... 

so if you are up for another stroll around The Lost Gardens of Heligan, 

join me again in a few days...

Until then, to all of you mud maids and giants out there,

have a lovely day!

Helena